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SOBRIETY SHOULD BE VALIDATED

Narconon agrees that long term sobriety should be validated by the Courts. Sending a message that being clean and obeying the law keeps one out of jail is the least expensive one for society. Dealing drugs is wrong, but once someone has demonstrated that they have learned their lesson, the goal of rehabilitation by the state has been achieved. It sends a message of hope to those who think they have utterly ruined their lives through their entanglement with the law due to drug abuse. We always hear about the high recidivism rate, but not about those who come out of prison and turn their life around. This story is about one such person.

“The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in favor of second chances for a former meth addict from Iowa, paving the way for thousands of one-time prisoners to have their good conduct and rehabilitation considered when being resentenced on appeal.

“It’s just so exciting,” said Des Moines lawyer Alfredo Parrish, one of two Iowa defense lawyers who took the case, Pepper v. United States, before the nation’s high court. “It just helps so many people.”

The case involved Jason Pepper, now 31, who was arrested seven years ago in Akron, Ia., on drug charges. He pleaded guilty and served his prison sentence and was released. But prosecutors repeatedly appealed his sentence, claiming it was too light.

Today, Pepper is 31, living in Sioux City and working at Sam’s Club. If the Supreme Court had ruled against him, he likely would have been forced back behind bars.

“This is the news I’ve been waiting for for eight years,” he said. “Common sense prevailed. I can’t believe a judge in Iowa wouldn’t take into account now what the Supreme Court of the United States has said.”

Pepper was arrested by federal agents in October 2003 at the age of 24, and charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. In 2004, U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett of Sioux City sentenced him to 24 months in prison, far below the term specified by federal sentencing guidelines.”